Companies around the Earth have rolled out mandatory remote work. Working from home is the new reality for all of us and it is necessary to adapt to the challenges introduced by this way of work. Our colleague, Armin, has shared some of his tips for staying productive with us.
1. How long have you been working for Walter Code and what is your current position?
I have been working as a QA Automation Engineer in Walter Code for over two years.
2. How does your usual #workfromhome day start and how does it end?
#workfromhome, usually, starts with coffee. 😀
First of all, I make coffee, clean everything around me that may bother or distract me and begin my working day. Usually, I start with checking email inbox, then log in Slack and Skype and answer all the new messages I can find there.
Every morning, we have our daily meetings arranged through Slack. After the meeting, I check my JIRA tasks and tickets, and start resolving it, one by one. Very often, at 12AM I have “Skype Coffee” break with my colleagues. We really put a lot of effort to make our days organized in the same manner like it is organized when we are working from our office, especially when it comes to productivity and teamwork.
At the end of the working day, I make my plan for tomorrow and shut down my computer, but usually turn it on again, if something suddenly pops up in my mind, since #workingfromhome influence us to think about job more often during our after-work hours.
And, of course, finally, the last coffee for the end of the day. 😀
3. How does remote working influence your work performance?
Remote working has a very positive effect on my overall performance. I am less tired, since I don’t lose time on travelling to work and thus have more time for rest. Therefore, I am more focused on work and achieving better results. All you need to work from home is a good internet connection and cozy place to work from, like a beautiful garden, a comfortable lazy bag corner, or for some, a yard by the sea or river. 😀
4. How does it influence the spirit of your team?
Now, when we’re all remote, we’re trying even harder to help each other and make our team work smoothly, regardless of the distance. We keep our circle positive, and value each other more, both, in private life and in business.
5. What tools are the most helpful for you while working remotely?
For team communication and collaboration, we majorly use Slack, Skype and Microsoft Teams. With these tools, we can work together more easily by sharing files, sharing our desktop screens to each other, and, the most crucial, having our regular meetings organized without any restrictions. Like mentioned above, we are also using JIRA and Confluence for tasks management, and it is a perfect fit for working remotely, considering that it has all the tools necessary for successful implementation of agile processes that are of the special importance when it comes to productivity while #workingremotely. Additionally, as far as we work with our partners from other countries, remote work is not completely new for us, and in the time of the Covid-19 crisis, we are just practicing it even more.
6. In your opinion, what would be the major reasons why remote work can lead to an increase in productivity?
More time and flexibility, less distractions and better sleep are, in my opinion, three key factors that impact why people around the world are proving to be more productive when they work from home.
7. What were your most common after-work activities in the last 10 days?
In order to protect myself and others around me, I stay at home and do not leave it without an urgent need. So, I use my free time to do everything that I did not have enough time to do earlier. For example, I started to read much more than usual, to talk with my old friends over Skype (especially those who are out of the country), etc. An additional positive thing about home isolation is that I spend much more time with my wife, since we are both working from home.
8. What would you recommend us on how to #stayhome and have fun?
Take the best of staying home! Use these moments to work on yourself as much as possible. Read more books. Take online courses to gain new skills. Try to make some projects by yourself (maybe some of them can be beneficial to the society that is really suffering in the recent time). Do exercises at your home (some can make flour dumbbells :D), help old people and do good everyday. And, of course, stay healthy and happy!